Wow, what a practical bunch of chapters! So many of my questions were answered. The try-its seemed very powerful (and a familiar concept to anyone with a Brownie Girl Scout in their lives). Hale has mentioned avoiding practicing crafts in isolation, and I think the try-it concept is a good way to focus on the craft with a safe space to muck around with it a bit while avoiding too many boring examples of the same thing. Having a small library of crafts for students to refer back to when they need a little inspiration can only be a good thing.
The "research" thing was a bit difficult for me to grasp at first, and I think it was simply terminology. When I think of "research" I think of something that's long and arduous. While I recognize that I have to pay attention to students' writing development at all points, it took me some time to understand that a portion of the research was on-the-spot during the conference. I'm not sure what word I would have used to describe that part of the process other than "research," so I can't even claim to have a better idea.
Chapters 7-9 were just what I needed to clarify much of what I had been wondering about.
Extremely practical and very helpful. I feel like I have a basis to start from with Writer's Workshop and conferring now. As a sub, I only ever got to see parts of the process, so it was great to go through it step by step. I believe Hale's book will be a powerful tool for us going forward as new teachers. I won't be selling this one back, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteI also commented on my own blog about how great the idea of the "try it" section is! I love the idea of the students being able to retrieve ideas from the back of their writer's notebook to develop specific crafts for their writing!
ReplyDeleteI, too, commented on the practicality of Try-Its, but in addition to the points that you have already pointed out. I like the idea of accountabiliy that can be come from implementing the technique when they think they may have to share their ideas with the class afterward!
ReplyDeleteI too found a lot of useful hands on information in these chapters. This book is turning out to be a gem! I wonder how you felt about the exercises in the appendix. I struggled with them a bit at first and was glad to have the comparison to refer to. I really appreciated your concise post that was right on the money!!
ReplyDeleteNot only did I like having an opportunity to practice (Appendix F), but I surprised myself by being really close to what the author put. I think that's another recommendation for this book, that someone like me can actually get something practical out of it.
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